Separate female division initiated in 1979
There were no
championships awarded in any official manner until 1936, when Triangle
Publications (publishers of Daily Racing Form and Morning Telegraph)
conducted a poll of its staff, and Turf and Sports Digest conducted
a poll from selected sports journalists. In 1950, these were joined by the votes of racing secretaries across the country, from tracks that were members of the Thoroughbred Racing Association. In 1954, the Thoroughbred Record instituted a scoring
system based on points for stakes wins. In 1971, the Eclipse Awards were introduced, voted on by members of the National Turf Writers Association, as well as racing secretaries and some Daily Racing Form and Equibase staff.